Top Stories

SYDNEY: Beyond Distribution has licensed 75 hours to FOXTEL for scheduling across Crime & Investigation, History and Biography channels in Australia. The deal includes Jetstream, seasons one and two of Tube Tales, seasons one and two of Deadly Women, Air …

UNIVERSAL CITY: The series finale of NBC’s long-running medical drama ER notched up 16.4 million viewers, the largest audience for a drama series finale since Murder, She Wrote in 1996. The final episode on Thursday night also delivered the highest 18-to-49 …

TORONTO: Ron Berryman, the senior VP and general manager of the digital publishing group for Fox Interactive Media (FIM), has been tapped to deliver the crossover keynote address for the Banff World Television Festival and nextMEDIA Banff on June 7. …

LONDON: France Telecom’s Orange service is said to be considering the acquisition of the technology behind Project Kangaroo, the VOD venture from ITV, Channel 4 and the BBC that was nixed by British competition authorities. ITV, Channel 4 and the …

LONDON: Sky Real Lives has picked up the weight-loss series DietTribe from Passion Distribution to air exclusively on Sky Real Lives1. The 13×1-hour reality program follows the emotional and physical journey of a group of friends who are on a …

NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES: Several Nickelodeon shows and Comedy Central’s South Park have been added to the instant streaming service on the online movie rental platform Netflix, via a deal with MTV Networks. Subscribers will be able to watch nine previous seasons …

LONDON: RTÉ in Ireland has commissioned Rival Media to produce two new factual-entertainment formats: The Shrinks and Band from School. The Shrinks watches as four children, aged 9 to 14, tackle personal adult issues, taking a child’s-eye view of grown-up …

LONDON: Pioneer Productions has been commissioned by Discovery U.S. to produce Engineering the Universe, an 8×1-hour documentary series that investigates how the universe was created and how it works today. The series combines interviewers with scientists, experiments in leading research …

LONDON: Virgin1 has commissioned a series of programs featuring the Road to V competition, a national search for British unsigned music talent, from Que Pasa. The 6×5-minute titles will air on the first Friday of every month on the Virgin …

WASHINGTON D.C.: The Walt Disney Company’s president and CEO Bob Iger is willing to help the cable industry and place Disney/ABC networks for online streaming, but he does not back a subscriber-only plan that would make it difficult for consumers …